(Closed) TTC- Need help interpreting my numbers/symptoms

This month will be the first time that we are actively TTC. But my body seems to be totally out of wack and I need some help understanding what is going on. I’m hoping someone on the board might have some insight (or maybe can point me to a good TTC board…)

This month—I’m on day 17 of my cycle and am on the last day of my period—light spotting. But day 13-15 were super heavy. I’m using the Clearblue Easy Ovulation Predictor Machine that monitors not just LH like the OPK, but also Estrogen. It’ll tell you when your estrogen is rising and also when your LH spikes. I’m thinking that my estrogen won’t start rising until next week since I’m still on my period. But it actually started rising yesterday, while I’m still bleeding- WTH?

Background—I’m 40 and had a mirena IUD for 1.5 years (removed Dec 2010). Prior to the IUD, I was starting to get long, heavy periods. Did tests, no endometriosis. Also, I’ve been charting my temp since Dec and it’s all over the place and generally very low- low to mid 96. The only pattern is just prior to ovulation it will drop to low to mid 95. But after ovulation, it doesn’t jump higher than what it was earlier in my cycle. Also, my previous cycle was 28 days despite the fact that my period was 14 days.

Help, has anyone else had this problem? Do you know what this means and what I can do about it?

It could take 6 months to a year for your cycle to become regular after being on hormonal birth control. What are you using as your day 1 of your cycle? Day 1 is the first day of heavy bleed. For a woman having regular cycles if they are 28 day cycles ovulation usually occurs around day 14. I can’t speak to the charting though as I have never charted but hopefully the ladies who do will chime in.

Like panterapeach – I’m a little confused about the length of your period.

So you’re saying that you had full flow from CD1 to CD15, with spotting for three days before your period and on CD16-17? Did you get a period at all while using the IUD? If so, were they lighter while using the IUD?

I had the mirena IUD for two years, and my doctor told me it could take upwards of 3-6 months before everything was back to “normal” with my cycle (I didn’t get AF while I had the Mirena). That doesn’t mean that the hormones are still in your system for that long of course, but sometimes, our bodies may take a while to fall back into their normal hormonal rhythyms.

When you are charting – do you see a sustained thermal shift after ovulation? As in – after ovulation do your temps stay up? Or do they dip back down below the coverline? If they are all over the place, then maybe they are anovulatory cycles?

I’m thinking that perhaps another visit to the doctor to discuss the length of your periods and any affect it might have on conception might be a good idea. They could take a look at your charts at the same time too.

Good Luck you to on your TTC journey 🙂

Also – do you use Fertility Friend to chart? I’ve found a lot of good info on the message boards there, and people are generally friendly and helpful!

No worries – this is a great resource, so I’d come here to ask first too! But FF has a lot of “chart experts” that might be able to take a peek at your temps, and give you some advice as to what you might want to do next.

I use FF too, and have been charting for about 5 months now. I don’t proclaim to be an expert, but if you’d like, I can be a second set of eyes and take a peek at your chart to see if I can help. If you’d rather not post your FF home page for all to see, you can send me a link by private message too 😉

If you don’t see a sustainable thermal shift, then you might not be ovulating – and the bleeding you are experiencing might be breakthrough bleeding rather than a true period. Do you get PEAK day readings on your monitor?

Perhaps your body is just trying to regulate still, but it might be better to speak with your gyne sooner rather than later – perhaps she/he can review your charts, and maybe even do some hormone testing at various points in your cycle, or an ultrasound?

Not that I don’t think you have plenty of time (because you totally DO, so don’t let anyone tell you differently – can you tell I’m TTC at what’s termed “advanced maternal age” too – haha) but since you are TTC at 40, your gyne might offer help/testing at an earlier stage in your TTC journey, then if you were in your twenties say